Introduction
Marcella Falco loves her job. But each morning, she dreads going to work. Will this be another morning when she finds a dog chained to the gates of the animal shelter?
"It just breaks my heart. Every week, we find one dog, two dogs, just left outside the shelter," Falco said. "Sometimes they are just running around outside the gate. Sometimes they are chained. What choice do we have? We give them a home."
In Italy, animal shelters too often become the final home for thousands of abandoned or stray dogs, including the 550 dogs and puppies that reside at the privately run Rifugio San Francesco in Ischitella, a suburb of Naples.
"Adoption? No, not many Italians adopt," Falco said. "Maybe, maybe the puppies will be adopted. But the adult dogs — they come here to stay here, to die here."
Some are abandoned by U.S. servicemembers when they leave their duty stations, although the number of pets left behind by the military is not available. Most, however, are from the country’s rampant stray population.
Italian officials try to battle the problem with publicly funded shelters. Nonprofit shelters also take strays off the street, neuter them and let them go. And a few Americans have stepped in to adopt stray animals and keep them off the streets.
Better off homeless?
There are 81 animal shelters in Campania, but some animal-rights workers say animals may actually fare better on the streets than in some shelters that are poorly run.
"The situation of stray dogs in the region of Campania is anything but pleasing — not only for the thousands of dogs roaming the streets in search of food, but also for the many animals that live out their miserable existence in private and public kennels," said Dr. Dorothea Friz, who runs the Lega Pro Animale veterinary clinic and the Naples chapter of Mondo Animale Foundation. Friz is a German who moved to Italy 27 years ago and runs the vet clinic in Mondragone, north of Naples. Many shelters, she said, are run for profit, not for the love of animals.
Some shelter operators round up as many dogs as possible, cramming them into cages to collect cash from the local, state and federal governments that fund publicly run shelters, Friz said.
Operators are paid roughly 4 or 5 euros per day per dog by the government, said Mariana Pompameo, director of the Veterinarian Hospital for Azienda Sanitaria Locale Napoli 1, the city’s health department.
So, a shelter with, say 500 stray dogs, could rake in 60,000 euros to 75,000 euros a month.
In 2007, Italy’s Ministry of Health spent nearly 5 million euros on the stray animal problem — from funding for shelters to anti-abandonment public awareness campaigns. That’s up from 4.2 million in 2005.
But the money isn’t going to feed, adequately house or treat the strays, said Friz, who has campaigned for government regulatory oversight. "If they are going to fund the shelters, [the government] should control them," she said. But shelter owners are "lining their pockets with the money. It’s become a business."
Government officials maintain there is adequate oversight of the publicly funded shelters, including quality control visits.
But Pompameo said that the high cost of running public shelters has forced the government to close some of them and rely more on private shelters or public-private ventures.
Pompameo denies animals in Naples’ public shelters are mistreated, but acknowledged that, like with many of the services provided via the public sector, there is a shortage of personnel to accomplish all the department’s needs.
The above text is an excerpt of an article written by Sandra Jontz published in Stars and Stripes, to read the entire article please click here!
*** NOTE: the posted article is from 2009 and the mentioned figures are no longer accurate
"It just breaks my heart. Every week, we find one dog, two dogs, just left outside the shelter," Falco said. "Sometimes they are just running around outside the gate. Sometimes they are chained. What choice do we have? We give them a home."
In Italy, animal shelters too often become the final home for thousands of abandoned or stray dogs, including the 550 dogs and puppies that reside at the privately run Rifugio San Francesco in Ischitella, a suburb of Naples.
"Adoption? No, not many Italians adopt," Falco said. "Maybe, maybe the puppies will be adopted. But the adult dogs — they come here to stay here, to die here."
Some are abandoned by U.S. servicemembers when they leave their duty stations, although the number of pets left behind by the military is not available. Most, however, are from the country’s rampant stray population.
Italian officials try to battle the problem with publicly funded shelters. Nonprofit shelters also take strays off the street, neuter them and let them go. And a few Americans have stepped in to adopt stray animals and keep them off the streets.
Better off homeless?
There are 81 animal shelters in Campania, but some animal-rights workers say animals may actually fare better on the streets than in some shelters that are poorly run.
"The situation of stray dogs in the region of Campania is anything but pleasing — not only for the thousands of dogs roaming the streets in search of food, but also for the many animals that live out their miserable existence in private and public kennels," said Dr. Dorothea Friz, who runs the Lega Pro Animale veterinary clinic and the Naples chapter of Mondo Animale Foundation. Friz is a German who moved to Italy 27 years ago and runs the vet clinic in Mondragone, north of Naples. Many shelters, she said, are run for profit, not for the love of animals.
Some shelter operators round up as many dogs as possible, cramming them into cages to collect cash from the local, state and federal governments that fund publicly run shelters, Friz said.
Operators are paid roughly 4 or 5 euros per day per dog by the government, said Mariana Pompameo, director of the Veterinarian Hospital for Azienda Sanitaria Locale Napoli 1, the city’s health department.
So, a shelter with, say 500 stray dogs, could rake in 60,000 euros to 75,000 euros a month.
In 2007, Italy’s Ministry of Health spent nearly 5 million euros on the stray animal problem — from funding for shelters to anti-abandonment public awareness campaigns. That’s up from 4.2 million in 2005.
But the money isn’t going to feed, adequately house or treat the strays, said Friz, who has campaigned for government regulatory oversight. "If they are going to fund the shelters, [the government] should control them," she said. But shelter owners are "lining their pockets with the money. It’s become a business."
Government officials maintain there is adequate oversight of the publicly funded shelters, including quality control visits.
But Pompameo said that the high cost of running public shelters has forced the government to close some of them and rely more on private shelters or public-private ventures.
Pompameo denies animals in Naples’ public shelters are mistreated, but acknowledged that, like with many of the services provided via the public sector, there is a shortage of personnel to accomplish all the department’s needs.
The above text is an excerpt of an article written by Sandra Jontz published in Stars and Stripes, to read the entire article please click here!
*** NOTE: the posted article is from 2009 and the mentioned figures are no longer accurate
The roots of the problem
Italy is a nation that abandons every year between 100,000 and 150,000 dogs. There are over 1,500,000 dogs roaming free in Italy and only 10% of them are chipped and sterilized.
The south of Italy is most affected, especially Campania, Puglia and Sicily. In Apulia alone, about 100,000 dogs wander the streets and anyone can easily imagine what a "life" these animals are forced to lead.
About 80% of them die within the first year after their abandonment or their birth due to accidents, poison, or simply by starvation and dehydration. The rest - as non-sterilized - reproduces and the sad cycle repeats itself year after year, and so we have always the same drama on the streets of Italy.
The number of stray dogs has increased significantly in recent years. There where about 20,000 stray dogs in Puglia in 1991, today there are more than 100,000 of them, who know nothing else than gnawing hunger and daily struggle for survival.
But despite what these poor animals have to endure, they have at least one thing: their FREEDOM!
The South, as you can see, is the part of Italy more exposed to this problem. The South is also the area with the highest level of corruption and criminality. The Italians living in an area were the mob exerts influence are over 13 millions. The equivalent of 22% of the Nation.
The mob is present in over 610 Italian districts. The Italian mobs: Cosa nostra (Sicily), Camorra (Campania), N’drangheta (Calabria) and the Sacra Corona Unita (Puglie) have a turnover of over 130 billion of euros. The gain of the N’drangheta in 2007, that was around 44 billion euro, equal to 2,9% of the National GDP. To understand the level of corruption it’s enough to analyse the denunciations for corruption you have in percentage this classification: Sicily 13,07%; Campania 11,46%; Puglie 9,44%; Lombardia 9,39%; Calabria 8,19%..
Black economy, tax evasion, arms trade, drug trade, extortion, racket, violence, prostitution, sex slavery, constructions without planning, transformation of the cost in a mass of cement, zoomafia, arsonism, deforestation, the poisoning of the land and of the sea with ships full of toxic and radioactive waste and now the kennel concentration camps!
The roots of the problem is that the Italians abandon puppies on the motorways. They abandon cats and dogs like used, squashed beer cans. This is the root of the problem. From this horror everything originates.
But note: the abandonment creates fortunes. It makes people rich. And, therefore, we have the commercialisation of the animal - alive or dead.
The south of Italy is most affected, especially Campania, Puglia and Sicily. In Apulia alone, about 100,000 dogs wander the streets and anyone can easily imagine what a "life" these animals are forced to lead.
About 80% of them die within the first year after their abandonment or their birth due to accidents, poison, or simply by starvation and dehydration. The rest - as non-sterilized - reproduces and the sad cycle repeats itself year after year, and so we have always the same drama on the streets of Italy.
The number of stray dogs has increased significantly in recent years. There where about 20,000 stray dogs in Puglia in 1991, today there are more than 100,000 of them, who know nothing else than gnawing hunger and daily struggle for survival.
But despite what these poor animals have to endure, they have at least one thing: their FREEDOM!
The South, as you can see, is the part of Italy more exposed to this problem. The South is also the area with the highest level of corruption and criminality. The Italians living in an area were the mob exerts influence are over 13 millions. The equivalent of 22% of the Nation.
The mob is present in over 610 Italian districts. The Italian mobs: Cosa nostra (Sicily), Camorra (Campania), N’drangheta (Calabria) and the Sacra Corona Unita (Puglie) have a turnover of over 130 billion of euros. The gain of the N’drangheta in 2007, that was around 44 billion euro, equal to 2,9% of the National GDP. To understand the level of corruption it’s enough to analyse the denunciations for corruption you have in percentage this classification: Sicily 13,07%; Campania 11,46%; Puglie 9,44%; Lombardia 9,39%; Calabria 8,19%..
Black economy, tax evasion, arms trade, drug trade, extortion, racket, violence, prostitution, sex slavery, constructions without planning, transformation of the cost in a mass of cement, zoomafia, arsonism, deforestation, the poisoning of the land and of the sea with ships full of toxic and radioactive waste and now the kennel concentration camps!
The roots of the problem is that the Italians abandon puppies on the motorways. They abandon cats and dogs like used, squashed beer cans. This is the root of the problem. From this horror everything originates.
But note: the abandonment creates fortunes. It makes people rich. And, therefore, we have the commercialisation of the animal - alive or dead.
How to make money with kennel concentration camps
Let us explain briefly how this is done, how the mind of a bad owner of a kennel camp operates. Let’s get into his mind set.
This is what he would suggest to you if you want to create a kennel camp:
First you must - preferably - choose a territory where the law is a joke. The South is perfect.
The area of Benevento, Campobasso, Caserta, Irpinia, the region of Molise, Sicily, Basilicata and Calabria are ideal for the job. Choose an area of intense animal abandonment. Campania is perfect (read the book of Saviano or rent the CD of Matteo Garrone “Gomorrah” from your local video shop and you will understand what I am talking about).
Make sure that you have solid political contacts, right or centre or left it’s totally unimportant.
Be a great friend of the parish priests. Give generously to the local churches.
Make sure you have a statue of Padre Pio in your house. Avoid the one of Francis of Assisi like the plague. He loved animals. He is not adequate.
Once the contacts are solid, try to appear like a benefactor: like Marlon Brando in the “Godfather”.
Then build a kennel in a desolate distant place. Make sure that is in an impervious area.
Make sure that the kennel, like many in Calabria, have high walls. Silence and privacy are absolutely paramount.
When the kennel is constructed, employ preferably foreign workers that you can keep silent. If the workers talk it’s big trouble. If they talk send them away - back to their country.
When the kennel is ready, make a deal with the town councils of the area (in the case of the infamous kennel of Cicerale, close to the temples of Paestum, 97 towns councils are involved with the operation).
Use your smart way. Oil the machine. Give decent backhanders. Make sure the local politicians are on your side. Make solid deals. Choose the stronger political party but be open towards the opposition.
Make sure that you have good relations with the local judges.
Establish contacts with the internationals multinationals of the vivisection; you can sell strays to the Mengeles of the animal world. It’s very easy.
Now go collecting dogs. The more dogs you collect the more money you make.
Each dog you catch is worth 50 euro plus a monthly or a yearly amount established with the local town council. Be smart: dog catching, plus dog maintenance, plus dog death with consequent incineration equal a lot of euros. It follows a fluent rhythm. More dogs, dead or alive, more green dollars.
Make sure that:
- The idea of a national control of the kennels will never be activated, or we are lost.
- The idea of a CCTV camera in the kennels is absolutely resisted.
- The visits are prohibited so that nobody can see what is happening in the kennel.
- Sterilization is not done properly.
- The medical controls are inadequate.
- The ASL (the medical organization that includes the veterinary control) is absent, irrelevant or abjectly corrupted and make sure that will write always false reports declaring that everything is alright.
- Microchiping is done in a very limited way.
People who want to get a dog won’t get one because the less dogs you have in your kennel the less money you earn. Remember: adoptions are fatal to earnings; find all sorts of problems and quibbles to stop adoptions.
The lack of sterilization is extremely contained so that puppies are born and more money comes in.
The animal lovers are kept under blackmail “If you tell somebody what happens here you will find the door shut” - “Questa è casa nostra”. “This is our house”. If the animal people get too close, make sure you go out with a gun.
Nobody knows if the dogs die, if the dogs die, avoid to report it so that you can continue to get the allowances.
Your kennel is full of dogs, if you have too many adoptions make sure that the bitches give birth to new puppies.
That you don’t feel any compassion, they are only animals devoid of immortal soul. Ask the local priest and he will tell you.
Don’t worry about:
- The number of animals in the cage
- The medical controls
- The physical condition of the animals
- The fact that rats eat from their bowls
- Blind dogs starving because they cannot find the bowls.
Don’t worry about dogs:
- Devouring each other.
- With the vocal cords cut, without eyes and without paws.
- With legs amputated and with monstrous injuries
- Running around themselves endlessly in the cage.
- Injured, cut apart, dying.
- Sick with all kinds of horrific diseases and dying with tumours.
Don’t worry about:
- No water in the kennel, God will provide
- The dogs that the activists take for a walk and when they are taken back in the kennel howl in utter despair.
- The mortality reaching the level of 97%, like in the infamous kennel lager of Cicerale
- The fact that the animals don’t get out of their cage for 14-15 years
- The fact that the puppies born in a cage, die in a cage.
- The media: the journalists don’t care about dogs (they care only about the women of Berlusconi)
The animalists: they are abjectly divided. They want us to be condemned, but the political powers will defend us. The law and political power will stop everything.
Don’t worry about:
- Ministerial inspections, political power will activate our contacts in Rome and stop everything.
- Documents: they can disappear like the documents of Cicerale suddenly dissolving into thin air.
- Carabinieri, NAS or the police, they come and go. We are well protected.
- The judge: offer a job to a relative.
The closing by the authorities of your kennel:
- be smart like Calasso, who moved the dogs from Cicerale to a place called Cirò Marina, in Calabria, 400 kilometres away.
- Moving the dogs: sick or blind or dying, pile them up in a big van, they will be alright, and if they die, it is the will of God: the Lord gives life and takes it away.
Let me conclude telling two stories: one of “familismo degenere”, of degenerate familism, the other of pure horror.
The first is about the kennel - lager of Cicerale. The owner’s name is Cafasso, one of the most hated men among Italian animalists.
This is the net that was created to cover the operation: Cafasso was a local councillor of the Comunità Montana di Torre Orsaia. The mayor and the ex mayor of Cicerale were both part of the operation. The judge Martuscelli was passing the usual absolutory sentences: like the three monkeys: no see, no hear, no say; Nese, the director of the infamous medical - veterinary organization ASL –3, who had the wife of the judge among his stuff, kept saying that all was in order. A nephew of a judge worked in the kennel of Calasso. The brother of the judge was a dog catcher working for Calasso. The carabinieri and the NAS were for obvious reasons impotent to act. A net of families, collusion and silence. (document of the 29, 07. 2009, signed by Arkus, la Zampa e la Mano, Amicicani e Lega Nazionale in Difesa del Cane sezione: Puglia)
The other story regards the town of Modica in Sicily.
In March 2009, Giuseppe Brafa, a child, ten year old, was killed by a pack of strays in a the borough of Scicli in the town of Modica, not far from Ragusa. The population was obviously shocked. But nobody said that the reason of the death of the child was caused by the fact that in Sicily there is a mass of antisocial bastards who abandon over 68.000 dogs every year. This was the reason behind what happened - that nothing was done to capture the dogs.
The dogs are not there by their own will: it is human responsibility; they don’t originate from pure nothingness. A priest, Don Salvatore Cerruto, started preaching against animals in the church of San Giorgio, in Modica. “We live in the society of idols. The animals are taking the place of the human person”. (La Repubblica 18.03.2009).
In a few words, the holy man is saying: if you are a person who respect other living beings you are a lascivious heathen. You worship monkeys, peaces of wood and phallic symbols. After the sermon the lynching parties were taking shape; then the mayor of Modica, Antonello Buscema, started shouting in his barbaric slang: “Scendo il cane e lo sparo” that translated – literally - in the language of Shakespeare sounds like: “I go down to the dog and I shoot him”. And the shooting started.
They were shooting dogs all over the place. You can see photos of Carabinieri shooting dogs on the beaches (La Repubblica 18.03.2009). At that point the Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, intervened putting stop to the slaughter. It was too much.
The Sicilian genius, the writer Vincenzo Consolo, winner of the Premio Strega, was adamant: exterminate the strays. “The animals are adored by people who would like to see foreign workers dead”, he said.
(La Repubblica 17.03.2009). From the lascivious heathens we have moved to the neo-Nazi animalists. The literate genius, heir of Tomasi di Lampedusa and Pirandello informed us that if you respect other living beings you are automatically an abject racist. You never stop learning in life. Once I read that a Sicilian councillor, incredibly named Nerone, proposed a deal: the head of stray dog or a stray cat in exchange of a certain number of euros. I think 25 euros. That way he was trying to solve the problem of the abandoned animals in Palermo.
The news was reported even by the English Independent newspaper. He was immediately sacked, but he tried.
Gandhi said: tell me how you treat your animals and I will tell you to what sort of nation you belong.
In Italy we have a law dated 14th August 1991 that states: “The stray dogs found, caught or protected in adequate structures cannot be oppressed.” And article 544 of the penal code states: “Whoever, for cruelty or without necessity, causes the death of an animal will be punished with imprisonment from three to eighteen months.”
What surprised me was the Italian magazine L’Espresso (01.10.2009 n.39) that produced a very moving report on the slaughter of dolphins by Japanese fishermen, eight pages with photos - they could see the horror of Taiji but not the terror that takes place daily in our country.
Dogs and cats are nothing. Five millions families own dogs but nobody reacts, only animal lovers.
Many thanks at Paolo Ricci for this well-documented information.
The big business of the dogs kennel holocaust
by FRANCESCO GRIGNETTI - published in La Stampa.it - November 16, 2007
Translated from Italian into English by Paola Pecora
Dogs undernourished, ill, abandoned, jailed for life in miserable cages, lifeless. This is the picture of the dog shelter. From time to time it is heard on TV that the Forestale (forest ranger) arrived there and got one. Ok, but why? Because behind the Italy's stray dogs there is a filthy business. Indeed very filthy.
As usually happens with Italian stories, it all begins with the best intentions with a lot of hustle just to end up in a dark hole. With stray dogs for example, in 1991 it was decided to they wouldn't be killed anymore but taken to public shelters, in good shape and condition, spayed and neutered, waiting for foster homes or natural death.
We ended up, 16 years later with approximately 500 private shelters that house 230 thousand dogs (data from the Health Ministry) which are subsidized through Municipalities or Asl (Regional Health Departments)
Official data of the amount of business is around 500 million euros. A great deal of public money goes for stray dogs. And the worst must come.
A sad paradox: the more a dog is undernourished the more money the owner of the shelter gets. That means the dog eats poorly or nothing. The faster a dog dies the better is: the shelter owner gets 50/75 euros for each dumped carcass. The faster a new post is free, a new dog immediately comes to occupy it, even if it ends up being a puppy born only for that purpose: the shelter owner will add up 30/45 euros more. There are some shelters where half the dogs die every year and they are immediately "replaced".
The dog business is all about a fast turnover. The faster the turnover the more money they do. The last dog seized happened some days ago in Taranto. It was addressed by a division of the Forestale, the Nirda (investigative division of crimes towards the animals). A 45% of the dogs were suffering from infections; lots of them had tumors; almost all the males were not neutered. And so many were lame, "probably due to the pavement of the boxes, of earth and stones on the surface".
And more: broken wire fences, sharp ends, food stock room rat infested, no shelter from the elements provided. In a hole there were hundredes of dead animals. Veterinarians of course never around to care for the dogs. Now the owners are being investigated for several charges ranging from animal abuse and animals deprived of health care and illegal disposal of hazardous waste management. Fifteen days ago two dog breed facilities have been seized in Frosinone province. Other 700 dogs were found in miserable conditions: small and overcrowded cages all together puppies with adult dogs, helathy and ill. Poor food and same quantities for all. Brief cleaning just once a day with the pressure pump for some but the rest were living among feces. And they died.
Luciana Perfetti, Major of Sgurgola, has been named as law keeper: "According to the law the dog kennel - she says - had to be a transition point, something temporal and exceptional. It's a fact that here there staff assigned was not sufficient to takie care of the dogs". Indee, there was just one person for all those dogs.
All this cruelty and neglect can only be explained looking at the dog shelters business inside them. As Maria Cristina Salvucci, president of an animal rights group tells about the Lazio Onlus shelter: "In some structures dogs sleep on the concrete floor, eat dog croquettes that are dropped on the floor and share the cage with other 10 or more animals. In these conditions herd's laws are very hard and only the strongest end up eating and are destined to survive. At least until a stronger dog is caught and introduced to the group. Dogs being tore and their fights happen on a daily basis and are one of the main cause of death".
Until here those could be terrifying acts of neglect. In order to save the most possible, everything comes down to force tens of thousands of dogs to live miserable lives (and let them die). Even thouth there are some facts that makes us think and wonder how is it possible that in Puglia there are 61,000 imprisoned dogs and 142,000 registered living with families (almost one out of two), and that in Campania the dogs caught are 81,000 and 223,000 (same percentage) respectively and in Toscana there are only 4,000 and 357,000 (almost one out of 100?). Or that in Lombardia there are 2,600 imprisoned dogs and 413,000 living with families (almost one out of 200,000?). The answer is simple. Unfortunately in the South - says Jole Santelli who has submitted a bill for a reform of the system - a lot of these kennels are made out of organized crime and the Asl (local health authority) is not able to conduct inspections".
This is already a matter of police. Maria Rosaria Esposito is in charge of the Nucleo investigativo del Corpo Forestale (Investigations Department of the Italian State Forestry Corps). "We are carrying out a monitoring on a national basis of this underworld. Until now we have intervened a bit verywhere: in Lazio, Friuli, Veneto, Emilia, Toscana, Marche, Campania and Calabria. There are immense amounts of public money that ends up here. And we don't even know how many dog kennels operating within the national health service. Fortunately there are many volunteers who help us with a constant flow of complaints".
To read the original article in Italian, please click here.
The Italian government and the European Union
are lining the pockets of criminals!
Dogs of Italy are being made to suffer in concentration camps all across Italy! The Italian government (and the EU) is paying for these shelters, 'unaware' that most of them are being run by criminals!
These criminals brutalize, neglect, beat, and starve these animals to death! They never get adopted! They don't want them to! The more animals they have, the more money in their pockets!
The EU (European Union) participates with a certain amount per dog, per day to run the dog camps in Italy so effectively that the Mafia is keeping the tortured poor souls alive with an absolute minimum of costs. Even water is considered an unnecessary fee and therefor the dogs gets none.
The reproduction of the dogs is desired, their adoption is not.
Pictures taken by volunteers in various Italian Canili Lager
Open letter
to the Italian government and the European Union
We wish to strongly protest against the current system whereby Italian kennels are subsidised per dog and whereby the system is wide open for abuse. This abuse is widely recognised with several internet sites referring to the system of abuse.
Italian citizens are too afraid to report the abuse, because of the inherent threat of physical violence by those who are profiting from these heinous dog kennels.
Among Abuses reported but not limited to are:
- No water in the kennel - God will provide!
- No food in the kennel - God will provide!
- The mortality reaching the level of 97%, like in the infamous kennel lager of Cicerale.
- The fact that the animals do not get out of their cage for 14-15 years.
- The fact that the puppies born in a cage die in a cage.
- Bogus Ministerial inspections.
- Bribes paid to those in political power in Rome who will kill off any complaint from the public.
- Disappearing documents: they can disappear like the documents of Cicerale suddenly dissolving into thin air.
- Corrupt Carabinieri, NAS and/or the police.
- Corrupt judges, offering jobs to relatives.
- When kennels are closed, the owner simply moves it! An example: Calasso, who moved the dogs from Cicerale to a place called Cir Marina, in Calabria, 400 kilometres away.
- Inhumane transporting of the dogs: Sick, or blind, or dying, pile them up in a big van, they will be alright, and if they die it is the will of God: the Lord gives life and takes it away.
- Dogs left to literally rot in their cages, in their own faeces: dogs eating the carcasses of deceased dogs!
- No medical attention provided: Broken bones, open wounds, festering abscesses, bleeding wounds.
- No dipping of dogs infected with mange: The terrible agony as the parasites eat away and infecting other dogs.
- If there is not enough dogs then the kennel owners allow litter upon litter of puppies as your current subsidy works on per dog system
- Little to nil access to the public for adoption viewing. Any dog adopted will reduce the subsidy value received from the local municipality!
- What is very clear from the above facts is that this subsidy system is wide open to abuse, and that criminal elements in Italy are now the de facto kennel owners.
- We ask you to immediately investigate this corrupt system and to change the law.
- We ask you to immediately send in impartial inspectors (not corrupt and bribed law officers) to report on every kennel in Italy.
- We ask you to immediately shut down all of these bogus kennels and have the animals removed to legitimate kennels - we can provide you with a list of such kennels.
- We ask you to PUBLICLY condemn this system of animal abuse: If you do not, it clearly means you condone this abuse!
- We ask you to immediately implement a mandatory spay/neuter program - funded by the STATE - applicable to all non-registered breeders.
We hereby inform you that we will run a massive internet campaign to boycott tourism of Italy and all Italian products until the government of Italy has shown not only that it has the will to enforce the animal protection laws of Italy BUT also to root out the corruption and bribery system endemic in your municipalities.
Reference
Enough is enough!
BASTA!
Summer, sun, beach and sea ...
and over one million dogs that spend their lives in Italian Canili lager, most of them until their death.
Something has to change in Italy, and urgently!
and over one million dogs that spend their lives in Italian Canili lager, most of them until their death.
Something has to change in Italy, and urgently!
Please help us put to pressure on those responsible shrouded in silence, standstill and mutual recriminations.
For months already, our friends from the organisation Tierschutzprojekt Italien are sending weekly mails to ministries, regional presidents, tourism associations, local authorities and commissions asking for official statements concerning the situation of the dogs in Italian Canili and above all, they ask them to finally become active in this matter!
But nothing happens!
It seems that there is the whole day "siesta" as soon as you pronounce the word 'Canile' or 'Zoomafia'.
The local animal rights activists are desperate for help. The dogs die in these privatized "animal shelters", where volunteers have usually no access and where adoptions are not desired.
The animals are not being cared for, they are not being fed and only just enough watered to stay alive - all this while the Euros are rolling and the cash is coming in. Not for the animals, but for those who run these Canili financed by community funds, taxes and EU grants.
Please support us in the fight against these Canili!
Please, send a postcard to those responsible and ask them to finally take action against these dog concentration camps
When you click on the above picture, a link opens (it's in German but you can see a translated preview of this link by clicking here)
Please complete the form by filling in your name (ABSENDERNAME) and email address (ABSENDEREMAIL) on the original page in German and click "Senden". If you like to receive a copy, please click on the box next to 'Kopie an Absender'.
The above postcard will be send to the following politicians and political bodies:
- Prime Minister Mario Monti
- President Giorgio Napolitano
- the 20 regional presidents in Italy
- Vice-President of Puglia Loredana Capone
- The Ministry of Tourism,
- The Ministry of Health
- The Home Office
- The Ministry of Agriculture
- Ministry of Environment
- The Ministry of Social Affairs
- The relevant Secretary for Health and Stray Dogs in Bari
- The Italian MEPs
The message on the postcard reads:
Betreff: Schauen wir dem Leid in die Augen
An die sehr geehrten Politiker Italiens!
Eine Million Straßenhunde
Mehr als 100.000 ausgesetzte Hunde jedes Jahr
600.000 Hunde, die in schrecklichen Canili eingeschlossen sind
Orte des Leidens, die nicht zu einem Land von so hoher Kultur gehören dürften
Bitte helfen Sie!
Ein Mitglied der EU
Translation into English:
Subject: Let's face the misery
To the respected politicians of Italy!
One million stray dogs;
More than 100,000 abandoned dogs every year;
600 000 dogs trapped in appalling Canili, places of suffering that should not exist in a country of such high culture!
Please help!
A member of the EU
Send a message to your MEPs (Member of the European Parliament)
Please send a message to your MEPs and ask them to speak out against this dog concentration camp. Please add the link to this page so that they can see the picture, too.
You can find the email address of your MEP easily in the following portal of the European parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/search.html;jsessionid=A21C9E491E4EB4E0DC60358AE8F998CA.node1
You can find the email address of your MEP easily in the following portal of the European parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/search.html;jsessionid=A21C9E491E4EB4E0DC60358AE8F998CA.node1
Thank you very much for participating in this action call to help the dogs in the Italian Canili Lager.
Please consider sharing this page with your friends and networks to help us get more supporters and to put even more pressure on the responsible bodies.
Thank you!